Poultry feeder and exerciser.



PATENTED MAY 5, 1908. 'W. M. GONNER.

v POULTRY FEEDER AND EXERGISER.

APPLICATION PILED MAR. 29. 1907.

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No. 886,580. YPATENTED'MAY 5, 1908.

- W. M. CONNER.

POULTRY FEEDER ANDY BXEROISER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, 1907- 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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WILLIAM M. OONNER, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

POULTRY FEEDER AND EXERCISER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 5, 1908.

Application filed March 29, 1907. Serial No. 36534.5.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM M. OONNER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton, State of Ohio, haveinventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Poultry Feeders and.

Exercisers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to poultry feeders and exercisers.

Poultry when housed do not secure sufficient exercise and as aconsequence do not lay, thus becoming to the breeder a loss instead of aprofit.

Various devices have been devised to give them the needed exercise andin some of these devices has been recognized the fact that poultry musthave some incentive to operate the device. For instance, a feeder hasbeen so connected to the exercising device that as the poultry operatethe device, feed is supplied to them.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved feeder and exerciserwhich will be inexpensive to manufacture, simple in operation anddurable in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this type inwhich the feed of the feeder may be regulated.

A still further object is to provide a distributer which may be foldedinto small compass for the purpose of shipment and which will positivelythrow the feed various distances from the feeder.

ith these and other objects in view, the invention consists of the partsand combination of parts shown in the accompanying drawings, hereinafterdescribed, and more particularlypointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of my invention partly in verticalsection and partly in elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the bottom ofthe hopper. Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the feeding disk. Fig. 4 is a topview of the distributer. Fig. 5 is a top view of the central portion ofthe distributer. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view of the feeding diskin an adjusted position. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the box over which thefeeder is suspended.

Referring more particularly to the draw ings, 1 indicates a rectangularfeeding box which is preferably placed in one corner of a poultry housewith the walls 2 and 3 abutting the walls of the house. The feeding boxshould contain straw, sand or other material in which the poultry mayscratch.

Within the feeding box is arranged the feeder and exerciser which ispreferably suspended from the roof of the poultry house.

For this purpose, the hopper 5 has securedto it a pair of uprights 6 and7 one of which is longer than the other, so that they may be secured toan inclined rafter 8.

The bottom of the ho per 5 is provided with an annular series of oenings 9 and a central opening 10. In the atter turns with littlefriction, the depending sleeve 11 of a hollow cone shaped disk 12, whichis provided with radial propellers or ribs 13. These ribs project beyondthe periphery of the disk and gather in the feed, conducting it to theopenings 9. The shape of the disk causes the formation of a chamberwhich gradually increases in height toward the center of the disk andthus prevents clogging. The cone-shape of the disk also prevents thefeed accumulating on the top of the disk.

The inner ends of the ribs are cut away at 14 to receive an annularwasher 15, as shown in Fig. 6, which washer serves as a means forholding the disk in an elevated position above the bottom of the hopperand thus increases the feed of the feeding disk. Of course, any numberof washers may be employed or washers of different thicknesses may beused to get different elevations of the disk.

The disk is rotated by means of a rod 16 which depends from the disk toa point near the bottom of the feeding box where it is provided withradial impelling arms 17. These arms are engaged by the legs or the bodyof the poultry when the latter scratch in the feeding box, causing therod or shaft 16 to be rotated and thus rotating the feed disk. So thatthe device may be adjusted for poultry of various sizes, the verticalrod 16 1s adjustably connected to the feed disk. This is accomplished byproviding the rod 16 with a series of transverse bores 18 through whichis passed a pin 19 which rests in two notches 20 in the to of the disk12. To prevent the rod swinging relatively to .the hopper the upper endof the rod is ournaled in a spider 21 arranged in the top of the hopperor in other words, above the feed disk.

As a means for distributing the feed to all parts of the feed box, thereis provided the the non-depressed device shown in detail in Figs. 4 and5. This comprises a cone-shaped attaching disk 22 and grooved arms 23 ofvarious lengths extending radially from said disk. The disk is of adiameter sufficient to catch the material dropping through openings 9and is provided with radial grooves 24 and a central opening 25surrounded by upturned flange 26 which secures the distributer to therod 16 or it may be secured to the sleeve 11. The arms 23 are eachprovided with a longitudinal groove, and fit within the radial grooves24, their upper ends being beveled so that they may lie close togetherat these points. To hold the arms in the grooves, bolts 26 are passedthrough the disk and through the arms. The grooves in the disk serve twofunctions, first, they prevent lateral movement of the arms, and second,they cause the upper edges of the arms to lie in the plane of ortions 27of the disk. WVhen feed drops rom the hopper it will strike either inthe arms or on the non-depressed portions of the disk. If on the former,it will be carried to the outer end of the arms and discharged into thefeeding box. If on the other hand, the feed strikes the disk, then itwill either be directed into the grooved arms or be carried to the edgeof the disk and discharged into the feeding box. In this manner the feedis directed to all portions of the feeding box and the poultry will becompelled to scratch in all parts of the box to get food, thereby movingthe ropellers often and giving a continuous supply of food. The feedhopper is closed by a cover 28 which is of conical formation to preventthe poultry roosting thereon.

To ascertain when the feed hopper needs refilling, there is provided agage in the form of a disk 29 which rests on the top of the feed and hasextending upwardly therefrom, two rods SOWhichpassthroughthecover28.Ofcourse, when the feed hopper is empty, the rods 30 will be lowered andvice versa. The manner of connecting the rod to the feeding disk reventsthe feeding device clogging, a usua occurrence in devices of this kind.The annular series of discharge openings 9 prevent a continuous feedfrom the hopper for, even though the feed passes under the disk, it willin most instances, remain on those portions of the bottom between theopenings and from here it is carried to the openings by the ribs.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. A feeder and exerciser for poultry comprising a feed hopper, a feeddisk, and a rod for rotating the disk, having means whereby the rod maybe rotated by the poultry thereon and said rod being verticallyadjustable in the disk.

2. A feeder and exerciser for poultry comprising a feed hopper, afeeding means, a feed box located below the hopper, a rod for operatingthe feeding means and having its lower end projecting into the feed box,and radial arms extending from the lower end of the rod within the feedbox.

3. A feeder and exerciser for poultry comprising a feed hopper, a feeddisk in the hopper, a rod to which the feed disk is secured, projectingabove and below the disk, means carried by the rod, below the feed diskwhereby the rod may be rotated by the poultry, and means above the diskin which the rod is j ournaled.

4. A feeder and exerciser for poultry comprising a feed hopper, afeeding means, a feed box located below the hopper, a rod for operatingthe feeding means and having its lower end projecting into the feed box,radial arms extending from the rod at its extreme lower end and locatedwithin the feed box, and means whereby the rod may be adjusted to varythe height of said arms.

5. A feeder and exerciser for poultry comprising a feed hopper, a feeddisk in the hopper, an operating rod adjustably secured to the disk and.extending above the same, means whereby the rod may be rotated by thepoultry, and means in which the rod is journaled, located above the feeddisk.

6. A feeder and exerciser for poultry, comprising a feed hopper, aclosure for the hopper, a feeding means in the hopper, means operable bythe poultry for operating the feeding means, and a gage for the materialin the hopper.

7. A feeder and exerciser for poultry comprising a feed hopper having acentral opening and a series of openings surrounding the centralopening, a feed disk having a sleeve depending into the central openingand radial ribs on its under side; and a rod for rotating the feed disk,operable by the poultry.

8. A feeder and exerciser for poultry comprising a feed hopper havingopenings in its bottom; a feed disk arranged in the hopper and formed toprovide a chamber gradually increasing in height toward the center ofthe. disk; and a rod for rotating the disk, operable by the poultry.

9. A feeder and exerciser for poultry comprising a hopper, havingopenings in its bottom a cone-shaped disk having ribs on its under side,adapted to feed the material from the ho per through the openings; andmeans operable by the poultry for operating the disk.

10. A feeder and exerciser for poultry comprising a hopper havingopenings in its bottom; a cone-shaped disk having ribs on its underside, adapted to feed the material from the hop er through the openings;and means operable by the poultry for operating the disk and means forelevating the disk relatively to the bottom of the hopper.

11. A feeder-and exerciser for poultry comprising a feed hopper, afeeding means therein, operable by the poultry, and a distributerarranged below the hopper and formed of a plurality of radial arms ofvarious lengths.

12. A feeder and exerciser for poultry comprising a feed hopper, afeeding means therein, operable by the poultry, and a distributerarranged below the hopper and formed of a central cone, and radial armsextending from the cone.

13. A feeder and exerciser for poultry comprising a feed hopper, afeeding means therein, operable by the poultry, and a distributerarranged below the hopper and formed of a central cone having radialgrooves, and arms fitting in the rooves extending radially from the coneand longitudinally grooved.

14. A feeder and exerciser for poultry comprising a feed hopper, afeeding means therein, operable by the poultry, and a distributerarranged below the ho per and formed of a central cone having ra ialgrooves, arms fitting in the grooves extending radially from the coneand longitudinally grooved, and

means passing through the arms and the cone for securing the arms to thecone.

15. A feeder and exerciser for poultry comprising a feed hopper, a feeddisktherein, a rod secured to the feed disk, and a distributer arrangedbelow the hopper and formed of a cone having a central opening throughwhich the rod passes and radial grooves, and arms fitting in the groovesand extending radially from the disk.

16. A feeder and exerciser for poultry comprising a feed hopper havingan annular series of openings, a feed disk arranged on the bottom of theho per and having radial ribs on its under side or feeding materialthrough said openings, and means operated by the poultry for rotatingthe disk.

The foregoing specification signed at Cincinnati, Ohio, this eighteenthday of J anuary, 1907.

WILLIAM M. OONNER.

In presence of two witnesses- GEORGE FRANKENBERGER, CHARLES J. INoTT.

